Team KTM/Powersport Grafx Race Report
October 16, 2008, 11:24am
North Wilkesboro, NC - The penultimate round of the 2008 GNCC series took the Powersport Grafx team to St. Clairsville, Ohio. The Power Line Park GNCC is notorious for its weather, either cold and wet or hot and dusty. For 2008 Mother Nature gave racers beautiful blue skies and temperatures in the upper 70s--nearly perfect racing conditions.
In this 3rd GNCC in the XC2 Pro Lites class, Cory Buttrick took his 3rd consecutive podium with a 3rd place class finish. After another solid start, Cory B. found himself in a battle for the lead in the early laps of the three hour race. Lapped traffic became a factor as the two leaders were able to put a small gap on Buttrick near the halfway mark. Cory rode consistent to keep the comfortable cushion he had over 4th place to secure the podium spot and a 9th place overall finish on the day.
Kailub Russell looked to be back to his winning ways win he ripped a monster holeshot in the XC2 Pro Lites Class netting him the $100 Thumpertalk.com Holeshot Award. Kailub rounded the first lap in 2nd place, right on the heels of race leader Jason Thomas. Unfortunately, on the 2nd lap disaster struck. Coming into a tricky section leading to a creek, Kailub in an attempt to avoid a crashing rider went off a creek bank into a deep section of water drowning out his bike. He was able to get going after over 5 minutes of work on the bike which dropped him to a 12th place position. Kailub didn't give up, instead he rode hard to the finish for a 7th place class finish.
Steward Baylor's first win in the 200A class didn't come easy. It took a three hour battle and a last lap pass to give the 2008 GNCC Youth Champion the win by a mere 8 seconds. Steward's impressive ride nearly landed him his first top-20 overall finish with a very respectable 21st on the day.
Lee Rowland had a tough go in the 200B class in St. Clairsville. After running in the top-5 early in the race, Lee ran into some problems and dropped back to a 9th place finish in the class. Lee sits in 4th place in the overall 200B Class points.
Grant Baylor's fight for the 85cc 7-11 championship continued at Round 12 of the GNCC series. Grant got off to a great start grabbing the early lead, battling with 2nd place rider in both the race and points, Aaron Plessinger. Plessinger eventually made a pass on Grant that he was able to hold until the end of the race. The championship will be decided between these two riders at the final round as Grant now sits in 2nd place in the class points, 3 points behind the leader.
We would like to thank our sponsor partners: KTM, PowersportGrafx, KTM Hard Equipment, KTM Genuine Spare Parts, Pirelli, SCOTT goggles, Alpinestars, FMF, IMS products, Motorex, NGK, Synergy Seals, and CV4 products.
For inquiries, please contact Jason Hooper at pr@digitaloffroad.com
In this 3rd GNCC in the XC2 Pro Lites class, Cory Buttrick took his 3rd consecutive podium with a 3rd place class finish. After another solid start, Cory B. found himself in a battle for the lead in the early laps of the three hour race. Lapped traffic became a factor as the two leaders were able to put a small gap on Buttrick near the halfway mark. Cory rode consistent to keep the comfortable cushion he had over 4th place to secure the podium spot and a 9th place overall finish on the day.
Kailub Russell looked to be back to his winning ways win he ripped a monster holeshot in the XC2 Pro Lites Class netting him the $100 Thumpertalk.com Holeshot Award. Kailub rounded the first lap in 2nd place, right on the heels of race leader Jason Thomas. Unfortunately, on the 2nd lap disaster struck. Coming into a tricky section leading to a creek, Kailub in an attempt to avoid a crashing rider went off a creek bank into a deep section of water drowning out his bike. He was able to get going after over 5 minutes of work on the bike which dropped him to a 12th place position. Kailub didn't give up, instead he rode hard to the finish for a 7th place class finish.
Steward Baylor's first win in the 200A class didn't come easy. It took a three hour battle and a last lap pass to give the 2008 GNCC Youth Champion the win by a mere 8 seconds. Steward's impressive ride nearly landed him his first top-20 overall finish with a very respectable 21st on the day.
Lee Rowland had a tough go in the 200B class in St. Clairsville. After running in the top-5 early in the race, Lee ran into some problems and dropped back to a 9th place finish in the class. Lee sits in 4th place in the overall 200B Class points.
Grant Baylor's fight for the 85cc 7-11 championship continued at Round 12 of the GNCC series. Grant got off to a great start grabbing the early lead, battling with 2nd place rider in both the race and points, Aaron Plessinger. Plessinger eventually made a pass on Grant that he was able to hold until the end of the race. The championship will be decided between these two riders at the final round as Grant now sits in 2nd place in the class points, 3 points behind the leader.
We would like to thank our sponsor partners: KTM, PowersportGrafx, KTM Hard Equipment, KTM Genuine Spare Parts, Pirelli, SCOTT goggles, Alpinestars, FMF, IMS products, Motorex, NGK, Synergy Seals, and CV4 products.
For inquiries, please contact Jason Hooper at pr@digitaloffroad.com
